MILWAUKEE, Wis. - The Rockford University women's basketball team lost a hard fought battle 63-61 in the closing seconds of Wednesday's game at Alverno College. Although the Regents did briefly lead by 12 points early in the second quarter, for the most part the game was tight the entire evening. The second half was especially close as neither team lead by more than four points in the final 20 minutes and there were a whopping 13 lead changes including two in the final 19 seconds. Unfortunately it was the Inferno who made the final shot of the game to escape with the victory.
The first half saw both the Regents and the Inferno play extremely well in spurts. The opening five minutes of the game belonged to the Inferno as they jumped out to a quick 11-5 lead with 4:59 remaining in the quarter. However, the Regents responded with an 18-0 run as Rockford scored the final 10 points of the first quarter and the first 8 points of the second quarter to jump out to a 23-11 lead, its largest of the night. Tajanae Key (Glendale Heights, Ill.) and Talayah Gordon Scott (Rockford, Ill.) scored four points each to spearhead Rockford's 10-0 run to close the first quarter, and freshman Taylor May (East Moline, Ill.) scored the first four points of the second quarter. The Regents' lead hovered around 10 points until the final minute of the first half when the Inferno closed the half on a 6-0 run to pull back within two points.
The second half was extremely competitive as the largest lead for both teams was just four points. Rockford held a four-point lead on two separate occasions early in the third quarter thanks in part to freshman Taylor May who scored the Regents first two baskets of the second half. Alverno's four-point lead came with 1:39 remaining after the Inferno connected on four free throws during a 17-second span to take a 60-56 advantage. Rockford responded right back when Mallorie Getzelman (Byron, Ill.) drained a pair of free throws with 1:10 remaining to pull her team within two points. Freshman Taylor May then put the Regents back in front when she converted an old-fashioned three-point play with 19 seconds left to give Rockford a 61-60 lead. However the Inferno answered with a three-point play of their own to retake the lead with 9 seconds remaining. Unfortunately the Regents were unable to get a shot off before time expired allowing the Inferno to slip away with a 63-61 win.
Taylor May continued her outstanding play as of late notching her fourth double-double of the season and her third in the last four games. May scored a game-high 24 points along with grabbing a season-high 13 rebounds and dishing out a career-high 7 assists.
Mallorie Getzelman and Tajanae Key both also played well on Wednesday. Getzelman tallied 16 points, had 4 rebounds and made 1 steal. Key was extremely effective on the boards grabbing a career-high 16 rebounds, while also scoring 6 points, recording 6 assists, making 3 steals and blocking one shot.
The RU women's basketball team returns home on Saturday, January 14 to face Lakeland University. Tip-off is set for 2:00 PM in the Seaver Center.
